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I found around 117 clever quotes about home, but I felt like making it 118 just because.
I mentioned briefly that I had been using an iPad Air for my post-PC tablet experience. It came to me discounted and it served me well, but I am back to Android so this post is kind of post-mortem analysis of my iPad/Android experience for the usage I make of tablets.
It is, by definition, subjective, so you might not have experience the same things I have experienced and that is OK.

iPad was great because...

Battery

For my usage patterns: use it one day or several for around half-an-hour casual browsing, a movie every now and then,… battery was great. iOS would not drain then battery when idle so there was little fear of getting it one day to find it depleted.

Construction

iPads are pricey but they also feel solid. I loved the construction, size and weight of my iPad despite being metal. I say despite because I am really no fan of aluminium: it is more expensive, heavier and prone to scratches and bumps, I’d take quality polycarbonate (aka. plastic) anytime.

Screen

Most likely, what I liked best from th iPad. Crisp, balanced and, overall, a pleasure to use in each of the situations I am likely to watch at the screen. Only downside was that it was very reflective, which made search for the dark spot somtimes in the train, for example.

Second-Hand Value

One hears stories about how much the iPad retains its value but my experience was absolutely unreal. I posted an announcement in a popular second-hand page and in less than an hour I received more than two messages asking about it and next morning it was sold. Damn, I am starting to think my price was too low :-)

… but nothing is perfect

Screen Ratio

Stunning screen, really useful for browsing, reading but… it kills me every time I watch a movie and see those black bars and real state wasted. For a media consumption device that is a real turn off.

Short on RAM

Hats off for iOS running as well as it does with “only” 1 GB of RAM. Performance-wise one does not notice, but when it comes to the slightest multi-tasking: switching browser tabs would make Safari reload every single tab. That is just a crying shame for a browsing machine.
Yes, newer devices come with the (still lacking) double the amount but Apple is making you pay top dollar for a crippled multi-tab browing experience. Unacceptable.

If not iOS, What then?

It would be silly buy another iPad given that my biggest gripe comes from its screen ratio; Windows does not interest me for mere content consumption and my family is already invested in the Google/Android ecosystem, so Android it is. For about what I would pay for the now obsolete iPad Air 2, I grabbed a discounted Xperia Z4 tablet that gets me: more RAM (3 GB), a beautiful screen with even more resolution (2560 x 1600) and the “right” screen ratio (16:9) and a crapload of other useful specs for my usage patterns:

SD card slot: for taking media with me on the road

NFC: for an easier pairing experience and automation with tags

Front-facing speakers: for not muffling the sound when holding the tablet

Water-resistance: to avoid the near-drink scare

All of it packed in less than 400 grams!

Any loss, then?

Well, as one can imagine it is not all rainbow and unicorns in Android-tablet land.

Battery life: despite doze, stamina and whatsnot,battery life while idle is still worse than iOS. Better than it used to be, but still worse.

Some of the apps I got used to during my iOS days are still slightly worse in Android. Good news is that there is way more to choose from and I even get to use some apps that I paid for.

So far, I do not miss my iPad at all. The future? I am horrible at guessing but if and when I dislike something, reast assured I am ranting about it. Without any doubt.